FAQ - The Hopper and Joey Frequently Asked Questions

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, or Ordering DISH Online. We offer all of DISH's current promotions plus a free $100 Gift Card. You have questions about the Hopper. So we've put together this: the most comprehensive and complete Hopper and Joey FAQ on the Internet. If you have a question about the Hopper and Joey, we have the answer. If we don't have the answer, we will soon. You may also be interested in our: DISH TV General FAQ

Answers

What is Hopper and Joey with Sling?

Hopper and Joey with Sling is DISH's whole-home HD-DVR receiver system. With it, all TVs in your home connected to DISH will have HD and HD-DVR capabilities, and Sling means that you can watch live or recorded TV anywhere on your mobile devices--such as smartphone, tablets, and computers--using the free DISH Anywhere app. The Hopper is your primary receiver, and Joeys operate the additional TVs in your home. There is a whole troop of Joeys to choose from: regular Joey, the Super Joey, the Wireless Joey and the Virtual Joey.

How much is Hopper and Joey?

The Hopper and Joey receiver upgrade is free when you order a qualifying DISH package, like America's Top 120 programming package or higher. Non-qualifying packages can still get the Hopper, with an upgrade fee. The monthly fees for the Hopper and Joey system are $7 for each Joey ($10 for a Super Joey) plus the $12 per month whole-home DVR fee. There is no monthly charge for the Hopper, your primary receiver.

What is the Super Joey?

Super Joey is a Hopper companion receiver. Unlike the regular Joey, the Super Joey has two additional built-in satellite tuners. This means that an account with the Hopper and a Super Joey has a total of 5 available tuners and can record up to 8 different shows at the same time (if PTA is enabled).

What is the Wireless Joey and when is it available?

The Wireless is now avilable!

Wireless Joey is another Hopper companion receiver. The Wireless Joey does not need to be connected to the Hopper via a coaxial connection. This means that you can pick up the Wireless Joey and bring it to any TV in your house, or on your property, hook it up to a TV with an HDMI cable, and start watching TV. Its is similar to regular Joey, in that it does not have any built-in satellite tuners.

Technical: The Wireless Joey creates a private 802.11ac wireless network created by a separate piece of hardware called the Wireless Access Point (sold separately).

How far from the Hopper can the Wireless Joey be?

The Wireless Joey has a technical range of 200 feet (~70 meters) from the Hopper.

What is the Hopper Wireless Access Point? And how much is it?

The Wireless Access Point (one per DISH account) creatse a private 802.11ac network between the Hopper and the Wireless Joeys. This wireless network is independent of your home Internet wi-fi; it doesn't not use bandwidth or data; it does not even require that the Hopper be connected to the Internet.

The Wireless Joeys will be able to connect to a 802.11ac Wireless Acces Point created by the Hopper. This will be a private wireless network that can be shared by two wireless joeys per Wireless Access Point.

The Wireless Access Point incurs a one-time fee of $50 paid at the time of ordering.

How much does DISH Anywhere (Sling) cost per month?

$0 extra. The Hopper comes with Sling enabled and the DISH Anywhere app is free. There is no monthly cost to watch your DISH account anywhere.

If I order Hopper and Joey with my DISH service, am I eligible for the $75 cash rebate?

Yes. You can still qualify for the $75 cash back offer if you order your DISH service and Hopper and Joey system with us.

How much does it cost for me to upgrade to the Hopper and Joey if I am an existing customer?

The Joeys connect to the main receiver, the Hopper, to access the DVR system on other TVs throughout the home. You'll need one Joey for each additional TV.

Why is it called the Hopper and Joey?

DISH named the system Hopper and Joey because each Joey "hops" from the main "kangaroo" to other TVs in your home. The Joeys are the baby kangaroos; they are smaller and borrow tuners and full HD-DVR functionality from the Hopper, the main receiver.

How many TVs does the Hopper and Joey system provide DISH service to?

The Hopper and Joey system provides HD-DVR DISH programming on up to 6 separate TVs.

How many shows can I record at once?

The quick answer: up to 9. The more in-depth answer: it depends.

Each Hopper has 3 tuners. Without Primetime Anytime (PTA) enabled, you can record 3 shows at once.

You can record up to 6 shows at once If you enable Primetime Anytime (1 tuner is used to record all of the primetime shows on each of the 4 major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX). The other 2 tuners can be used to record individual shows on whichever channels you choose. This is how you can record up to 6 programs at a time with a single Hopper.

You can record up to 8 shows at once if you have a Hopper and a Super Joey and have PTA enabled. The Hopper can record up to 6 and the Super Joey records up to 2.

You can record up to 9 shows at a time If you have a second Hopper. The first Hopper can record up to 6 with PTA enabled and the second Hopper can record up to 3 (only three because PTA would be redundant on the second Hopper).

How many shows can I watch at once?

The quick answer: you can watch a different show on each TV connected to DISH through the Hopper system. The long answer: it depends on your receiver configuration.

The number of shows you can watch at the same time depends on (a) how many tuners you have in your configuration, and (b) whether those tuners are actively being used to record a live event. If all of the tuners are occupied, but you still want to watch TV, you have a number of options. You can watch: recorded shows on the DVR, live TV that another TV is watching, Primetime Anytime, or DISH's Video on Demand.

How many tuners does the Hopper have?

The Hopper has 3 built-in satellite tuners.

Do the Joeys have tuners?

The regular Joeys and the Wireless Joeys do not have tuners. They use the Hopper's tuners. The Super Joey has 2 built-in satellite tuners.

Can I pause, play, and rewind live TV with the Hopper and Joey?

Yes, you can pause, play, and rewind live TV in any room of your home with the Hopper and Joey.

Are the Joeys HD or SD?

Technically, they're both. They support HD programming, but are also compatible with SD.

Can all of the TVs connected to the Hopper and Joey system record shows and watch recorded shows?

Yes. Each TV that is connected to the Hopper and Joey system has full and independent HD-DVR capabilities.

What if I have more than 4 TVs?

You have some options. For households wanting whole-home HD-DVR on 4 or more TVs, we recommend ordering a Super Joey or an extra Hopper. You can hook up to 6 TVs to the Hopper and Joey system by using 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys. An additional Hopper (without Sling) is a one-time $49 upgrade fee, and the 4th Joey, if necessary, is a one-time $99 upgrade fee. Monthly charges for the second Hopper (5-room setup) and additional Joey (6-room setup) are $7 per receiver.

If I have 2 Hoppers, will they communicate with each other?

Yes. Both Hoppers and all of the Joeys on your account can communicate and share with each other.

Can I get the Hopper and Joey installed in my RV/Camper/Fifth (5th) Wheel Trailer?

It is possible to have the Hopper and Joey installed in vehicles of this type. However, because of the fact that they are not generally pre-wired for the system and are therefore quite difficult to set up, the Hopper and Joey are not recommended for them.

Can I get a Hopper and Joey system and combine it with other DISH receiver, like the 722, 625, 211, etc.?

At this time, DISH policy does not allow for a customer to use both the Hopper and Joey system and other receivers. However, the Hopper and Joey system usually eliminates the need for other receivers, anyway, as it covers HD-DVR in up to 6 rooms of your home. There is one exception, and that is if you want to purchase a 211k.

Can I pause a show and finish it in another room?

Yes. You can pause a show and finish it in any room that is connected to the Hopper and Joey system.

Is the interface user-friendly?

Yes. The Hopper and Joey interface is user-friendly. It contains features like fast scrolling, intuitive search, Seek and Record, and helpful and attractive graphics.

Does Primetime Anytime cost extra?

No. Primetime Anytime is an included feature of the Hopper and Joey system.

Can I get On Demand with the Hopper and Joey?

Yes. You can access On Demand programming with the Hopper and Joey.

Does the Hopper and Joey have the Auto-Tune function (Turn-On timer)?

Yes. The Hopper and Joey have a timer that will turn on the receiver and tune it to a specified program. However, the TV will not be turned on by the Hopper and Joey Auto-Tune function. That must be programmed separately.

How far out does the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) go?

You can view up to 9 days of programming on the Hopper and Joey EPG.

Can I create favorites lists in the EPG? What about an HD-Only option for the EPG?

Yes. You can create lists of your favorites in the program guide. You can also select the Show Only HD option if you'd only like to see available HD programming.

How many hours of programming can the Hopper hold?

The Hopper has a 2 Terabyte (TB) hard drive and can hold up to 2,000 hours of programming. Although DISH features such as DISH Unplugged and Primetime Anytime do occupy a portion of the hard drive, the Hopper will hold up to 1,000 hours of standard-definition programming or 500 hours of high-definition programming.

Can I connect my Bluetooth devices to it?

Yes. Many Bluetooth devices can be connected to the Hopper, however; you cannot connect your Apple devices (i.e., iPad, iPod, iPhone) via Bluetooth. Those devices should use Wi-Fi and the free DISH Anywhere app. At the moment, the primary uses for the Bluetooth are for streaming audio via headphones, headsets, and speakers.

Is Picture-In-Picture (PIP) available on the Hopper and Joey?

Yes. PIP is available on the Hopper. However, it is not available on the Joeys.

What kind of features does the remote have?

Some of the cool features of the remote include color-coded shortcut buttons, a button that will pair your remote to its receiver, page up, page down, fast forward, rewind, view live TV, change tuners, search, Picture-in-Picture (PIP), DISH On Demand, the ability to program other devices such as DVD players, and much more. Additionally, if you lose your remote, the Hopper has a remote finder button that initiates an alarm in the remote to help you locate it.

What is the remote control locator? How does it work?

The remote control locator is a button found on each Hopper and Joey. When you press it, it sounds an alarm in your remote to help you find it.

Can I access apps on the Hopper?

Yes. You can access several apps on the Hopper including Pandora, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other general apps such as news, stocks, sports, and weather. These apps are integrated into the Hopper interface and can be easily accessed via the menu.

Can I get DISH's TV Anywhere with the Hopper?

Yes. The Hoppers we set you up with, for your primary receiver, are Sling enabled.

Will my Sling adapter work with the Hopper?

Yes. Your Sling adapter is compatible with the old non-Sling-enabled Hopper as long as the Hopper has an Internet connection.

Can I set parental controls on the Hopper and Joey?

Yes. You can set up parental controls directly on the Hopper for access restrictions on the entire system, or you can set up separate Joeys with parental controls.

How does DISH Unplugged work?

DISH Unplugged allows you to stream movies to your Hopper without an Internet connection. This feature includes hundreds of titles, which are streamed to your TV via satellite.

Do I need the Internet for the Hopper and Joey to work?

You don't need it, but it's recommended as the Internet is required for many of the Hoppers features to function.

What is Primetime Anytime?

Primetime Anytime is exclusive to DISH. It's part of DISH's Hopper and Joey Whole Home DVR system. When this feature is enabled on your Hopper you will have instant On Demand access to all your favorite shows on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in HD. Your Hopper will automatically record three hours of Primetime programming every night, on all of those channels, and make it available to you On Demand for up to 8 days after the initial air date. This does not use your Hopper's DVR timers nor does it use any of your Hopper's hard drive space. Primetime Anytime is free.

When the Primetime Anytime option is switched on, the Hopper records on all 4 networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX) from 8 pm – 11 pm EST Monday through Saturday and from 7 pm – 11 pm EST on Sunday.

How long are recorded Primetime Anytime shows saved?

Primetime shows are automatically saved for 8 days. If you'd like them to be saved for longer, you can select to save them to your DVR.

Can I get 3D programming with the Hopper and Joey?

Yes. The Hopper and Joey are compatible with 3D programming.

Can I watch 3D programming on a Joey-connected TV?

No. 3D movies must be viewed with the Hopper.

How do I find the shows I want to record and watch on the Hopper and Joey?

The Seek and Record function allows you to set your Hopper and Joey to record shows based on actor, specific keyword, and more. The intuitive search function is also a great tool for helping you navigate your DISH service on the Hopper and Joey. Once you start entering search criteria, the system will start generating movie, television, and recorded show results for you.

What if I can't get local channels in HD where I live?

That's okay; you can still use the Hopper and Joey. Your Primetime Anytime recordings will just be recorded in SD instead of HD.

How do I connect my Hopper to the Internet?

The installer brings everything he needs to connect your Hopper to the Internet. If you want to do it yourself, you can either connect to your Internet service using an Ethernet cable, or you can connect the Hopper to a wireless network using a wireless dongle (or something similar). While you will not have access to general web features such as browsing, connecting your Internet service to your Hopper will allow you to experience the advanced features of the Hopper and Joey system such as the apps, Dish Movie Pack, and more.

How big is the Hopper hard drive?

The Hopper hard drive is a whopping 2 TB (Terabytes).

Can Joeys be connected to the Hopper wirelessly?

Regular Joeys cannot be connected wirelessly to the Hopper; they must be connected via coaxial cable. Use the Super Joey for this. However; your regular Joeys will be connected to the Internet if you set up your Hopper on a wireless Internet connection. To connect your Hopper and Joeys wirelessly, you can use a specific NetGear Wifi Adapter (802.11N WNDA3100v2), which can be plugged into the Hopper's USB port. This is the same wireless adapter that is used to wirelessly connect other DISH receivers and is available through DISH if you don't have one.

Does the Hopper and Joey support surround sound systems, like Dolby, 5.1, and 7.1 (optical connections)?

Yes. You can attach an external hard drive to the USB port on your Hopper.

Can I use an external hard drive that is currently connected to another DISH receiver and retain those recordings?

Yes. You can connect that hard drive to the Hopper, and the Hopper will recognize the recordings. While you won't be able to access them on the DVR list as it only lists what is stored on the internal hard drive, you will be able to find them in a folder on your DVR menu.

Can I connect a wireless card to my Hopper?

Yes. A wireless card can be connected to the USB port on the Hopper. However, it must be a specific model to connect your Hopper and Joeys wirelessly (NetGear 802.11N WNDA3100v2).

What is the Hopper Internet Connector that I'm hearing about?

The Hopper Internet Connecter (HIC) is a piece of equipment that allows you to connect your Internet to your Hopper using a coaxial cable. This is ideal if your router or modem is not in the same room as your Hopper, and your installer can set it up for you.

What kind of cabling is used to connect the Hopper and Joeys?

The Hopper and Joeys are connected using coaxial cabling and rely on a technology called Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance (MoCA) to share DVR functionalities.

What is MoCA? What does it do?

MoCA stand for Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance, which basically means that your Hopper and Joeys are connected with a series of coaxial cables. This is how they're able to communicate with each other, allowing any connected Joeys to access the DVR system stored on your Hopper.

Will the Logitech Revue work with the Hopper and Joey?

At this point, the Hopper and Joey are not compatible with the Logitech Revue for advanced DVR integration. However, you can use it to browse the Internet on your Hopper and Joey system.

What is SRS TruVolume? Does the Hopper really make commercials less loud?

SRS TruVolume is a technology that prevents fluctuations in volume between commercials and programs. The Hopper is integrated with this technology, so it does help to make commercials less loud.

Do all of my TVs have to be HD for the Hopper and Joey to work?

No. Your TVs do not all have to be HD for the Hopper and Joey to work with them. You'll just be able to watch and record SD programming instead of HD on your SD TVs.

Can I install the Hopper and Joey system myself?

No. your DISH technician will install the Hopper and Joey system for you. They're often available as soon as the next day, and you can schedule your appointment for a weekend if it's convenient for you.